Angel's Story
A Lesson In Fostering From The Heart
by Ann Bartlett

Anne Frank wrote, "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." She must have been part Golden Retriever! And her middle name must have been Angel.

Being a foster parent is part love, part charitable cause, and part irresistible urge to have more dogs than we bargained for! But how far would any one of us go for our favorite cause?

I asked myself this question December 21, 1999. A message left on my machine from a local shelter alerted us to a female golden, who had given birth to at least 7 newborns, was being dropped at the shelter. When I called back, the shelter had no room and the 8 puppies and their mother had been abandoned already.

In my mind I said, "It's Christmas what is this woman doing?"

My second thought was could I handle this if SEVA GRREAT doesn't have someone with puppy experience to help!

A quick phone call to my husband to see what he thought clinched my decision. His instant reply was Christmas itself, "How soon can you pick them up? I'll come home early!" Another phone call to Ron Ferguson, a foster home close by was another instant, "Do it now, I'll help!" Last was Jane Thompson, who called me back and said that if rescue couldn't take the puppies and mamma then she would help me place them! The spirit of Christmas had arrived!

When I arrived at the shelter I was warned that the puppies were in bad shape and had been surrendered because mamma dog had given birth in the owner's closet ruining her shoes. A reason I still have trouble understanding!

Ron climbed in the back of my Trooper and checked each pup. One did not look well and by the time we reached home the first puppy (Shakti) died.

This tiny frail mother with her frightened upset face kept a watchful eye on Ron and me as we pulled each puppy from the small crate where they had to live for the past 8 hours. After-birth and wet towels were what the babies had to lie in.

Of the 7 remaining puppies 3 were very cold, one was somewhat cold but bigger than her smaller siblings, and 3 were cold but moving and making noise.

I needed a quarantine kennel to keep mamma and the puppies separate from my dogs. Most quarantines are outside, these puppies would not survive in the 20-degree weather. I quickly ripped apart a bathroom and set up a nursery with towels, blankets and bowls for mamma and called Anita Weidinger for advice.

Through the first night I heard babies crying and mamma whining. It was very hard to sleep so I spent a large portion of the night on the floor of the bathroom trying to get Mamma to lie down, nurse and sleep.

The next morning at 6 am baby #2 (Hope) died and I began to realize I needed help if I was going to save any of them!

I called a local vet, who opened early for us to bring in the babies and the mother, and to my undying appreciation gave us 3 hours of his staff's time and energy walking, warming, and tube feeding the babies. They tended to their mother, this little angel of mercy, who had a 104.2 fever, a cough and weighed in at 42 lbs.

My husband had come with me and after listening to the vet, left the vet's office telling me he had to go to work. However, his concern for the puppies overwhelmed him and he drove home to construct a puppy nursery! When I arrived home I found the bathroom warmed to 85 degrees with a portable heater placed on the bathroom vanity so no one could get burned, and a therapeutic dog bed covered in towels with a heating pad.

As I brought the puppies out of the box, baby #3 (Faith) died and I started to loose my own faith that I had any business helping these puppies!

That night the last of the weak babies seemed to gain some strength. She was a little scrapper, noisy and would fight being tube fed. She just seemed to fuss all the time about something. We named her Star because she was very blond and the attention getter. By next morning Star was fading and I knew if I could get her through the day she might have a chance.